Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says diplomatic tensions could be eased if Iran ratchets down the rhetoric.
“Very simple: Iran should back off, stop being aggressive, stop interfering, stop supporting terrorism,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday when asked how to resolve the escalating crisis.
“I hope that they will turn around and adapt a more conciliatory policy and a more normal policy, the way that countries and governments should behave. And I want to emphasize here that we have no enmity towards Iran, we have no enmity towards the Iranian people,” Al-Jubeir said, adding that Saudi Arabia has merely been reacting to Iran’s outrage.
Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy in Iran’s capital of Tehran over the weekend, prompting Saudi Arabia to pull its diplomats from the country and cut ties with the Islamic republic.
 “At a certain point, everybody reaches their limit. The Iranians have gotten away with murder — literally for more than 30 years.” Al-Jubeir said.
He pointed to Iran protecting individuals linked to the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, harboring al Qaeda leaders after 9/11 and smuggling weapons internationally as some of the alleged “nefarious” activities the Islamic republic is involved in.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan broke all ties with Iran, and the United Arab Emirates downgraded its relations. Kuwait, meanwhile, recalled its ambassador to Iran on Tuesday.
Al-Jubeir blamed Iran for not stepping in to protect the embassy from the protesters, who threw stones and Molotov cocktails that set off a fire, and said Saudi Arabia’s leaders believe the bombardment was “coordinated.”
“You don’t play these games if you’re serious,” he said. “Not when you have a crisis, you either defend the mission or you don’t.”